The students say that no matter how hard they study or how well they perform on schoolwork, suggested quotas prevent them from receiving a fair grade.

The guidelines recommend that, for entry-level business courses, no more than 15 percent of students receive an A-minus grade or above and that at least 35 percent of students receive a C-plus grade or below.

The guidelines suggest that between 25 and 35 percent of students in upper-division courses receive an A-minus or above.

The business school faculty voted in 2009 to establish the grading structure as a policy, but downgraded it to a guideline in the fall of 2011, said David Ikenberry, dean of the business school.

Ikenberry said faculty have discretion when it comes to grading, with the guidelines there as a "set of expectations."

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"There's no one-size-fits-all approach to grading, however, as a general rule of thumb, there is a set of expectations that we want faculty to support on a longer horizon," he said Tuesday. "It's a loose set of ranges and guidelines that are intended to be aspirational about positioning the school to be among the top business schools in the country."

'Discouraging students'

Students say the suggested grading structure lowers their grade point averages unnecessarily, which could make getting a job or getting into graduate school harder.

Once they do land jobs, they may start with lower salaries based on their GPAs, said junior Amberly Grant. Grant said she hopes to finish the semester with A and A-minus grades, at the expense of some of her fellow students.

"As a student who works really hard, I don't want everyone to get A's, but it doesn't mean that people don't deserve the grade they get," she said. "If 30 percent of people deserve an A, then 30 percent of people should have an A."

Grant, who transferred to CU this year, said she learned about the grading guidelines somewhat accidentally after getting a low grade on a group presentation and taking a difficult midterm exam.

"Had I know that this school practiced (grade deflation), I might have chosen a different school," she said.

Students say the guidelines are demoralizing and can make studying and hard work seem futile.

"When you put in that cap, you're discouraging students," said junior Will Beihoffer. "Some could use a lower grade as a fire, but when they keep trying and trying and perpetually getting a C or B or whatever it's not enjoyable."

Contrary to students' concerns, business school leaders say that 94 percent of Leeds students had a job offer, were part of a startup venture or were committed to graduate school within 90 days of graduation last year.

On the front end, the school is also attracting brighter students. The average ACT score for the entering freshman class rose to 28 this year from 26 in 2011, officials said.

Ikenberry, the business school dean, said he hasn't heard directly from students or faculty members, though he is paying attention to online chatter about grades.

"We are very much concerned about student success and so we definitely want to make sure we're open and receptive to 'Are we doing this right?' but as a general rule, the policy seems to be working the way the faculty laid it out," Ikenberry said.

Ultimately, faculty are empowered to give students the grades they deserve, while using the recommendations to guide them, said Zeel Patel, a spokeswoman for the business school.

"Because it's a guideline, that means that if you have more than average top performers, you could grade appropriately," Patel said.

Grading changes nationally

Some schools, including Princeton University, instituted grade deflation policies to combat grade inflation, or the slow, upward creep of grades in higher education.

In 2013, a committee at Yale found that 62 percent of grades awarded between 2010 and 2012 were in the A range. The same year, Harvard officials said A's were the most frequently awarded marks.

At Princeton in 2003, just before the new policy was put in place, 48 percent of the grades it awarded were A's.

Though intended to inspire academic rigor and set high standards, some professors and students said the policies created a cutthroat environment and may turn off prospective students.

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